UW-Oshkosh launching Global MBA with schools in Germany, India

Oshkosh, Wis. - Representatives from universities in Germany and India and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh will sign an agreement on Monday to begin a global master of business administration program that will rely heavily on the Internet.

The program further expands upon the Wisconsin Idea - that long-held approach that the borders of the state are the borders of the university.

Designed for working professionals, the 15-month Global MBA program will begin in June 2006 with 10 students from each campus.

Sixty percent of the coursework for the 33-credit program will be done online. The rest will be delivered on-site, requiring students to travel to each country.

Representatives of the UW-Oshkosh College of Business Administration (COBA) will sign the accord with representatives from the University of Applied Sciences, Darmstadt, Germany, and the T.A. Pai Management Institute, Manipal, India, in a ceremony on Monday at UW-Oshkosh. Linda Bartelt, former Kimberly-Clark Corp. executive and new director of the UW-Oshkosh Center for Community Partnerships (CCP), will deliver a keynote stressing the importance of global management education and experience.

"Organizations must cultivate a global mindset so they can leverage skills and resources from across the globe to create and spread wealth to improve the quality of life for all," said UW-Oshkosh business professor B.S. Sridhar, an organizer of Global MBA. "This is a joint effort of reputed institutions in three economic powers that will impart knowledge, skills and abilities to managers who aspire to effectively lead their organizations into the 21st century."

Other organizers from UW-Oshkosh are business faculty members Don Gudmundson, Don Simons and Birgit Leisen-Pollack. Along with a college globalization panel, they have been working on the project for nearly two years. The work included a market survey to make sure the program reflected the human resource and business development goals of area companies.

The three Global MBA partners are in countries noted for their economic and political importance to the global economy, college representatives noted.

Germany is a major industrial powerhouse in Europe, with one of the strongest developed economies of the world and noted for its efficient technology and heavy engineering capabilities. The University of Applied Sciences in Darmstadt is accredited by the Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation.

India is the world's second fastest growing economy and a hub of technical expertise that presents new opportunities for business. T.A. Pai Management Institute is one of the top 15 business schools in India and one of Asia's top-rated business schools. It has been accredited by the National Board of Accreditation and the National Assessment and Accreditation Council in India.

The UW-Oshkosh COBA, with more than 12,000 alumni and 1,700 current students, is accredited by AACSB International, the premier business school accrediting body. The college has offered bachelor's degrees in finance since 1967 and master's degrees since 1970.